This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-28759 filed on May 23, 2002, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven, and more particularly, to a wall-mounted microwave oven which provides an air curtain to guide exhaust gas and fumes rising from a gas oven disposed below the wall-mounted microwave oven.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a wall-mounted microwave oven is installed on a wall above, for example, a gas oven. The wall-mounted microwave oven not only carries out a cooking operation, but also exhausts gas and fumes generated from the gas oven disposed below the wall-mounted microwave oven.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional wall-mounted microwave oven comprising a body 1, a cooking chamber (not shown), which accommodates food therein, and an electric component compartment 5, which accommodates various electric components, that are isolated from each other. An exhaust flow path 3 is provided around the cooking chamber and the electric component compartment 5. The exhaust flow path 3 is adapted to exhaust gas and fumes generated from a gas oven 2 located below the body 1 of the wall-mounted microwave oven. The body 1 is provided at its rear and upper side with an exhaust fan 4 to exhaust the gas and fumes introduced through the exhaust flow path 3 to the outside.
An exhausting operation of the wall-mounted microwave oven is carried out so as to have the gas and fumes generated from the gas oven 2 directed into an intake port 3a provided under the body 1, sucked through the exhaust flow path 3, and discharged to the outside.
However, the wall-mounted microwave oven has a width xe2x80x9cW1,xe2x80x9d from a front end to a rear end, which is smaller than a corresponding width xe2x80x9cW2xe2x80x9d of the gas oven 2. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient exhausting effect to exhaust the gas and fumes rising from the gas oven 2 even though the exhaust fan 4 is used.
Typically, the intake port 3a of the exhaust flow path 3 is located above a rear burning section 2b of the gas oven 2. Accordingly, although gas and fumes generated from the rear burning section 2b can be sufficiently sucked into the intake port 3a of the exhaust flow path 3, gas and fumes generated from a front burning section 2a of the gas oven 2 are not wholly sucked into the intake port 2a. Rather, a significant portion of the gas and fumes generated from the front burning section 2a rise vertically and upwardly, and contaminate a kitchen space.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wall-mounted microwave oven which emits an air curtain that guides gas and fumes generated from a gas oven toward its intake port to efficiently exhaust the gas and fumes.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To achieve the above and other objects of the present invention, there is provided a wall-mounted microwave oven mountable on a wall above a range-oven, comprising a partition plate, an oven body which is mountable on the wall and includes a cooking chamber and an electric component compartment which are isolated from each other by the partition plate, an exhaust flow path disposed in the oven body to exhaust gas and fumes generated from the range-oven, an exhaust fan which exhausts the gas and fumes introduced into the exhaust flow path to the outside, an air-discharging outlet which is provided at a front and lower portion of the oven body, and forms an air curtain that guides the gas and fumes generated from the range-oven toward the exhaust flow path, and a blower fan which is disposed in the oven body and blows air to the air-discharging outlet.
The blower fan may be disposed in the electric component compartment so as to direct the air to the air-discharging outlet while cooling an inside of the electric component compartment.
The air-discharging outlet may laterally extend at a front and lower side of the oven body, and a bottom plate of the oven body may be provided at its front side with an air guide duct which forms a flow path to guide the air from the electric component compartment toward the air-discharging outlet.
The oven body may be provided at an upper portion of its front face with an air inlet, through which the air is introduced into the electric component compartment by activation of the blower fan.
The electric component compartment may include an air guide plate which divides a front space of the electric component compartment, adjacent to the air inlet, into upper and lower subspaces so as to circulate the air introduced through the air inlet in the inside of the electric component compartment and guide the air to the air-discharging outlet. The blower fan may be disposed in the upper subspace above the air guide plate.
The partition plate which defines a boundary between the cooking chamber and the electric component compartment may be formed with one or more vent holes, so as to allow the air being circulated in the electric component compartment to be partially introduced into the cooking chamber therethrough.
The air-discharging outlet may include an outlet guide which extends forwardly and downwardly by a certain length, and guides the air discharged from the air-discharging outlet forward and downward.